The Hole by N.F. Simpson

The playwright N. F. Simpson is not a raving lunatic, although that is the first impression he gives. On the contrary, Mr. Simpson is lucidly, frighteningly, overwhelmingly sane. His unblinking perception of the rationalized madness that we call human life misleads one at first into thinking his plays gibberish, but we soon perceive that they are not the products of a chimpanzee pecking away at a typewriter (beloved example of statisticians as the primate may be) but come from an articulately humorous and serious intelligence.

Simpson, a contemporary of Harold Pinter and John Mortimer, was described by Kenneth Tynan (the formidable critic of the time) as “the most gifted comic writer the English stage has discovered since the war”. He influenced many writers, performers and comics including Peter Cook and the Monty Python team.

Why is N. F. Simpson only remembered by a few and why he has drifted into obscurity is certainly not a result of his extraordinary work but perhaps more to do with the man himself. Never entirely comfortable with celebrity and writing only to please himself his output ceased completely in 1983 when he chose to spend the next twelve years travelling the canals of England on a narrowboat which he described as “the happiest time of my life”.

Uniquely British and gloriously irreverent his influences can be seen in many famous creations over the last fifty years including; Reginald Perrin, Basil Fawlty, Edmund Blackadder and The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy, to name but a few.

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Over 18’s only, limited access for people with disabilities, no admittance for latecomers.